One day at AKL with no FP...

[moesy4]

My husband and I are doing AKL on our mostly resort only trip at the end of January. We will either be getting in with a cast member friend or will be using some old non expiring tickets, so we will not be able to make fast passes until the day before at best, maybe not until the day of.
It is a EMH morning with park hours including that from 8-8 pm. We would, of course, like to ride both Pandora rides and would love to see Rivers of Light as well.
My husband would kill me if I made him show up an hour before opening to rush off to FOP, so the plan is to try the refresh trick all day...if that doesn't work, we will hop in line a half hour or so before closing. I wouldn't mind seeing the standby line and we won't waste park time that way.
So...here are my questions.
Would it still benefit us to go to Pandora first to hop on the River Passage ride, then up to Kilamanjaro? It seems like most headed that way will get on FOP so I'm guessing even if we get there closer to 8 and stay behind the mass headed that direction, the wait shouldn't be too long? Or should we do it at a different time that day?
If we do not get a fast pass for FOP and have to go at the end, I'm going to guess we won't make Rivers of Light? It is at 7:15 that evening.
Any other tips or tricks you would recommend?

 

[hiroMYhero]

My husband and I are doing AKL on our mostly resort only trip at the end of January. We will either be getting in with a cast member friend or will be using some old non expiring tickets, so we will not be able to make fast passes until the day before at best, maybe not until the day of.
It is a EMH morning with park hours including that from 8-8 pm. We would, of course, like to ride both Pandora rides and would love to see Rivers of Light as well.
My husband would kill me if I made him show up an hour before opening to rush off to FOP, so the plan is to try the refresh trick all day...if that doesn't work, we will hop in line a half hour or so before closing. I wouldn't mind seeing the standby line and we won't waste park time that way.
So...here are my questions.
Would it still benefit us to go to Pandora first to hop on the River Passage ride, then up to Kilamanjaro? It seems like most headed that way will get on FOP so I'm guessing even if we get there closer to 8 and stay behind the mass headed that direction, the wait shouldn't be too long? Or should we do it at a different time that day?
If we do not get a fast pass for FOP and have to go at the end, I'm going to guess we won't make Rivers of Light? It is at 7:15 that evening.
Any other tips or tricks you would recommend?

If your MDE is linked to the CM’s MDE, the CM will have the 60-day booking window and can pre-book FPs for the Guest Passes and your tickets.

If the CM can’t get you into the park, CM can Cancel the Guest Pass FPs and you’ll use your tickets to enter the park and to enter the FP lines.

It’s best to enlist your CM friend’s help and have FPs booked well in advance.

ETA
What’s quicker is to book FPs using the non-expiring tickets that are linked in your MDE.
Then, if your CM friend can get you into the park, Link your MDE to the CM’s MDE and have the CM use Change Party to move the FPs to the Guest Passes that you’ll use for park entry.

 

[hsmamato2]

if you can do a different day without emh,I'd advise that. I'd also advise to read the threads here carefully, the lines really are that long that fast in the morning. We did a day with am emh, arrived about 8:30 and the Navi ride was 120+ minutes. So no matter what you choose, you should listen to their advice on timing in the morning. it won't come up on refresh.(at least I'd be shocked if it did) we tried hopping in line 15- 20 mins before park close for Navi, it was already shut down. Don't know what time they close it. We had FP for FoP. If I hadn't I would have gotten there by 7 am to ride the ride.

 

[Aela]

if you can do a different day without emh,I'd advise that. I'd also advise to read the threads here carefully, the lines really are that long that fast in the morning. We did a day with am emh, arrived about 8:30 and the Navi ride was 120+ minutes. So no matter what you choose, you should listen to their advice on timing in the morning. it won't come up on refresh.(at least I'd be shocked if it did) we tried hopping in line 15- 20 mins before park close for Navi, it was already shut down. Don't know what time they close it. We had FP for FoP. If I hadn't I would have gotten there by 7 am to ride the ride.

What time did your park open for EMH? You got there at 8:30, was it a 8am EMH?

 

[moesy4]

If your MDE is linked to the CM’s MDE, the CM will have the 60-day booking window and can pre-book FPs for the Guest Passes and your tickets.

If the CM can’t get you into the park, CM can Cancel the Guest Pass FPs and you’ll use your tickets to enter the park and to enter the FP lines.

It’s best to enlist your CM friend’s help and have FPs booked well in advance.

ETA
What’s quicker is to book FPs using the non-expiring tickets that are linked in your MDE.
Then, if your CM friend can get you into the park, Link your MDE to the CM’s MDE and have the CM use Change Party to move the FPs to the Guest Passes that you’ll use for park entry.

Unfortunately, it isn't quite that easy...it's a good friend of my husband's best friend who works there. We've hung out with them a couple of times and got us in about 4 years ago for a couple of days, but we don't even know them well enough to have their contact info. They are really nice and totally happy to hang out with us to help us out, but probably wouldn't even know our names otherwise. We are kind of dependent on my husband's friend to coordinate the details and he has some personal stuff going on that would make it pretty low on the totem pole of importance. So we aren't depending on it...if it doesn't work out, we will just get my DH a 1 day ticket and use my non expiring ticket.

 

[moesy4]

if you can do a different day without emh,I'd advise that. I'd also advise to read the threads here carefully, the lines really are that long that fast in the morning. We did a day with am emh, arrived about 8:30 and the Navi ride was 120+ minutes. So no matter what you choose, you should listen to their advice on timing in the morning. it won't come up on refresh.(at least I'd be shocked if it did) we tried hopping in line 15- 20 mins before park close for Navi, it was already shut down. Don't know what time they close it. We had FP for FoP. If I hadn't I would have gotten there by 7 am to ride the ride.

We learned to love EMH on our last trip, but regardless, that is the only day we have a full day to take advantages of parks...we are moving to AKL for the next two nights and are going to stay at the resort and soak in the atmosphere those days, and then are moving to the beach for a couple of days. Short, budget friendly trip here!
We have every intention of being through bag check and ready to go by the time they release people to the rides, I guess my point was just I don't want to be trying to elbow our way to the front of the pack just for a ride. I would rather just miss it...but I am completely fine strolling over behind the masses to get to River Journey and waiting 20 minutes if everyone else is heading to FOP. But if River Journey gets backed up that fast too, we will just forget it. I have read several reports of people who hit up FOP at the front of the pack and then did River Journey afterwards and still were done with both within the first 30 minutes of park opening, so I guess I assumed that line was slower to build? But I could be wrong!

I am totally not depending on the refresh option to get us a FP, it would just be a nice perk but not expected at all. And looking at EasyWDW's historical wait times charts, the ride closes early for being down very rarely and hasn't closed for capacity in months. So I guess that's a risk we are willing to take...again, getting on is not a deal breaker, we would be perfectly happy just to stroll and enjoy Pandora at night. But I guess it would be nice to know in advance as we would go to Rivers of Light instead.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Unfortunately, it isn't quite that easy...it's a good friend of my husband's best friend who works there. We've hung out with them a couple of times and got us in about 4 years ago for a couple of days, but we don't even know them well enough to have their contact info. They are really nice and totally happy to hang out with us to help us out, but probably wouldn't even know our names otherwise. We are kind of dependent on my husband's friend to coordinate the details and he has some personal stuff going on that would make it pretty low on the totem pole of importance. So we aren't depending on it...if it doesn't work out, we will just get my DH a 1 day ticket and use my non expiring ticket.

I see. But the main problem then is that the CM can’t get you in the park for EMH. For you to use the Guest Passes, the CM has to actually touch his MainGate to enter the park before you can use the plastic Guest Pass at the entrance touchpoint. Without staying at an onsite resort, the CM can’t scan his MainGate to enter.

If you enter the park for regular park opening, the CM still has to enter before you do. And if the CM isn’t comfortable leaving the plastic Guest Passes with you, you won’t have any means of acquiring or using FPs.

The only way you can plan on EMH is if the CM gives you two Comp Tickets and you won’t be dependent upon the CM being with you.

Comp tickets can be linked to MDE and they have a 7-day booking window.

 

[moesy4]

Th

I see. But the main problem then is that the CM can’t get you in the park for EMH. For you to use the Guest Passes, the CM has to actually touch his MainGate to enter the park before you can use the plastic Guest Pass at the entrance touchpoint. Without staying at an onsite resort, the CM can’t scan his MainGate to enter.

If you enter the park for regular park opening, the CM still has to enter before you do. And if the CM isn’t comfortable leaving the plastic Guest Passes with you, you won’t have any means of acquiring or using FPs.

The only way you can plan on EMH is if the CM gives you two Comp Tickets and you won’t be dependent upon the CM being with you.

Comp tickets can be linked to MDE and they have a 7-day booking window.

Thank you, that is helpful to know! I believe last time they gave us one day of comped tickets, and then went into the parks with us and hung out for the day with us the second day...but we did not attempt EMH (in fact, it ended up being quite the mess bc of the CM not using guest passes since they switched!) and we only ended up with 4 park hours or so. It sounds like it may make the most sense to just buy the ticket and use the non expiring...we can always do partial days with the CMs at other parks if it works out.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Th


Thank you, that is helpful to know! I believe last time they gave us one day of comped tickets, and then went into the parks with us and hung out for the day with us the second day...but we did not attempt EMH (in fact, it ended up being quite the mess bc of the CM not using guest passes since they switched!) and we only ended up with 4 park hours or so. It sounds like it may make the most sense to just buy the ticket and use the non expiring...we can always do partial days with the CMs at other parks if it works out.

I think your own tickets will be best to give you the EMH to park close full day!